donnelly



J. C. DONNELLY.

APPARATUS FOR-PAINTING AND DRYING MATCH BOXES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-.13, 1919.

1,411,420. Patented Apr. 4, 1922.

4 SHEETS-SHEET I- 1. o. DONNELLY. V APPARATUS FOR PAINTING AND DRYING M'ATCH BOXES; 1,41 1,420.

J. C. DONNELLY. APPARATUS FOR PAINTING AND DRYING MATCH BOXES.

. APPLICATION FILED SEPT- I3, I919- I I 1 ,41 1 ,420, I Patented Apr. 4, 1922.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

@savk-WW J. C. DONNELLY.

' APPARATUS FOR PAINTING AND DRYING MATCH BOXES.

APPLICATIONTILED SEPT- 13, 1919.

4 SHEETSSHEET 4.

Patented Apr. 4, 1922. f

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH C. DONNELLY, OF BARBERTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE DIAMOND MATCH COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

APPARATUS FOR PAINTING AND DRYING MATCH BOXES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 4, 1922.

Application filed September 13,1919. Serial No. 323,546.

To all whom i!- 'l/Mlfl/ concern:

Be it known that I, JosnPH G. DONNELLY, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Barber-ton, in the county of Summit and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Im rovements in Apparatus for Painting and )rying Match Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an apparatus whereby a coating of ignition material, in a liquid or paintlike state, is applied to the outer sides of match boxes, and whereby the painted boxes are carried through an extended drying path.

The object of my invention is to provide an apparatus of simple and eflicient construction and operation whereby the boxes are rapidly painted and then assembled in spaced relation to each other in an endless conveyer which transports them through the drying path, with the painted surfaces of the adjacent boxes separated from each other and well exposed to the drying in fluence of the air.

In the form of embodiment of my invention herein illustrated, means are provided whereby a succession of close-lying boxes are fed in operative relation to paint-applying devices and thence advanced, side by side, in a row along a guide structure to suitable mechanism which selects the succeeding leading boxes from the row and inserts them in a succession of clips included in a traveling conveyer; all of which will be hereinafter particularly described and the scope of the invention then be defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings- Figure 1 is a plan of a box painting and drying apparatus embodying a form of my invention, the conveyer being shown in section.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 is a transverse verticalsection of the apparatus, as on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical section, as on the line 1-4: of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is an elevation, enlarged, of the box inserting mechanism and adjuncts.

Fig. 6 is a transverse vertical section, as on the line 66 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a horizontal section, as on the line 7-7 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a yielding presser device for laterally supporting the boxes while they are being inserted in the conveyer.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of one of the links of the conveyer.

Referring to the drawings, 10 designates the supporting frame of an ignition paintapplying mechanism; 11 a suitably-disposed receptacle in which the liquid paint is contained, and 12 a trough for the support and guidance of a succession of upstanding match boxes (A) arranged in close lateral relation to each other. 12 designates a vibratory spring-pressed shoe arranged to overhang the trough and bear with an evening effect upon the contained boxes.

13 designates a pair of spaced-apart paintcarrying disk wheels the peripheral portions of which are partly submerged in the contents of the receptacle, and 14 a pair of spaced-apart brush wheels arranged to transfer the paint from the adjacent sides of the respective disk wheels to the opposing narrow sides of the boxes. The shafts 15 of the brush wheels have their hearings in suitable boxes on the main frame and are provided with pulleys 16 which are connected by belts 17 with pulleys 18 on a pair of vertical shafts 19, also having their bear ings in boxes on the main frame. The shafts 19 carry friction wheels 20 which are so spaced apart as to engagethe vertical faces of the boxes and advance them along the trough toward and. between the peripheries,

of the brushes. The lower ends of the shafts 19 are provided with bevel gear wheels 21 in mesh with similar wheels22 on a horizontal shaft 23, which latter shaft is connected through a train of gears 24 with a power driven shaft 25 having its hearings in suitable brackets on the main frame. Thus continuous motion is transmitted from the shaft 25 to the feed wheels andthe pulleys 18 and thence through the belt and pulley connections to the brush and friction feed wheels. inner ends of shafts 26 which have their hearings in boxes on the main frame. The outer ends of these shafts are provided with pulleys 27 which are operatively connected by means of belts 28 with pulleys 29 on the respective ends of the shaft 23, and hence the disk wheels are simultaneously rotated in a manner to transfer the paint from the receptacle to the brush wheels.

The trough 1.2 for theboxes is provlded The disk wheels 13 are fast on the in advance of the'brush wheels with a horizontal guide extension. into and along which the boxes progress after they leave the brush wheels. This extension, in the present instance, comprises a bottom bar 30 and two parallel side bars 31; the latter being of V shape in cross-section and arranged in spaced relation to each other to support between them the upper lateral corners of the boxes and thus obviate liability of marring the outer painted surfaces of the boxes. The bars are adjustably secured by means of setscrews 32 to brackets 33 rising from the bottom bar 30. At the receiving end of the tension and in the vicinity of the brush wheels is supported a spring pressure device 34: which bears upon the tops of the boxes as they pass side by side between the brush wheels; thus holding the succeeding boxes down upon the floor of the trough in a manner to ensure their uniform relation to the brush wheels and their efficient passage into the guide extension. This extension directs the painted boxes successively in proximity to the path of an endless oonveyer which is constructed and arranged to receive the boxes in spaced relation to each other, and thus transport them through an extended drying path.

The convever, in the preferred form here in illustrate comprises an endless chain of approximately rectangular open links each having a pair of oppositely related clip springs 36 adapted to receive and grasp a match box which is pushed endwise be tween the springs. These springs are arranged to pinch the broad sides of the box and hold it with its painted surfaces spaced from the adjacent side bars of the link. The springs are preferably composed of flat spring plates bent into V-form, one leg of each spring beingshorter than the other leg thereof and being attached to a cross-bar 37 .of the link by means of screws or the like, such other leg extending into the interior and depending below the body of the link. The free extremities of the depending portions of the legs of the complementary springs are slightly flared and spaced apart topermit the entrance of a box between, and

inopposition to the inherent elasticity of' themdepending legs. The upper and lower endsof the boxes thus held by the clips pro ject beyond both sides of the respective links, and l n that condition they are carried by the conveyer through an extendedpath untilthe paint has become dry, whereupon the boxesiare successively discharged from the conveyer in any suitable manner.

The. conveyor is guided through a horizon tal path in'the region of the inserting station, and accordingly the links of the conveyer are provided with laterally projecting studs or rolls 37 which travel through pan allel channels in a suitably-supported pair advance the links with their sprin of guide bars 39 and about guide brackets 39 and a sprocket wheel 40 at the respective ends of the bars. The guide bars and brackets are affixed to a vertical plate 40 supported by a pair of brackets 41 on the bed of the main frame; and the sprocket wheel 10 is fast on a transverse shaft 42 having its bearings in suitably-disposed boxes 43.

One end of the shaft e2 bears a worm wheel 14 with which meshes .a worm 45 at the upper end of a vertical shaft i6 which has its bearings in brackets 47 on the supporting plate 40; the lower end of the latter shaft bearing a bevel gear 47- in mesh with a similar gear 48 on a horizontal shaft 49 which also has its bearings in brackets 50 on the plate .40. On one end of the shaft 4-9 is a gear 51 in mesh with a similar gear 52 on a lower shaft 5-3 provided with a sprocket wheel 54. This wheel 54 is connected by means of a chain 55 with a similar wheel 56 on a shaft 57 which is mounted below the main shaft 25 and is provided with a gear 58 in mesh with a gear 59 on the main drive shaft. By this system of gearing appropriate continuous motion is transmitted from the main shaft to the conveyerso as to clips successively to a position above and s ightly in advance of the delivery end of the bottom bar of the box guide extension. This end of the bar is supported on an angular bracket arm 60 extending from one of a pair of spaced vertical guide bars 63 which are bolted to the supporting plate 40. Such end of the bar is also provided with inclined lateral-guide flanges 61 for the lower outer cor ners of the leading box it is advanced, which flanges are preferably formed on a sheet metal member 62 which. embraces the bar and is secured thereto. See Figs. 5, 6 and T. I

Secured. in and between the bars 63 at the upper portion thereof, and in spaced relation to the delivery end of the bottom bar of the guide extension, is a vertically-disposed plate 64; which serves as a stop and guide for the leading box of the row when it is advanced from the guide extension, preparer tory to. and during the insertionof such box into the conveyer by means of a vertically reciprocating plunger 65. This plunger is mounted between and guided in the Ways of the guide bars 63, its lower end being connected by means of a link 66 with a crank disk 67 onthe driven shaft 49. The reciprocatory movement of the'plunger is so timed in respect to the continuous travel of the conveyer, that as each link with itsclip is advanced above the path of the plunger, the latter impinges against the opposing box and, pushes it up into the grasp of the clip. The plunger then recedes preparatory to a similar inserting thrust on the next succeeding box which has been advanced and positioned against the stop plate by the action of the friction feed wheels on the row of boxes.

In order to maintain the upstanding box squarely against .the plate 64, during the movement of the box to the conveyer link, and thus prevent the box from getting out of vertical alinement with the link, 1 provide a pressure member adapted to bear yieldingly against the outer broad side of the box, (See Figs. 5 to 8 inclusive.) This member comprises a head 68 having an inclined nose portion 69 and supported by the upper portion of a J-frame 70 the legs of which embrace the guide bars 63 and are pivoted. thereto, as at 71. A retracting spring '72 secured to one of the legs and to the adjacent guide bar tends to swing the frame yieldingly toward the plate 64, with the inclined nose of the head overhanging the leading box positioned directly above the plunger Hence in the initial upward movement of the box by the plunger the outer upper corner of the box bearsagainst the inclined nose of the head 68 and forces it outward against the action of the spring, and as the upward movement of the box continues the head presses against the contiguous side of the box and holds the latter squarely against the plate 64:. When the plunger descends the then leading box of the row is advanced and positioned against the plate 64: and the pressure member resumes its normal position.

It is to be understood that my invention is not limited to the specific construction hereindisclosed, as the mechanisms may be variously modified within the principle of my invention and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim-- 1. The combination of paint-applying devices comprising spaced-apart rotary brushes, an elongated guide structure extending longitudinally from the path between the brushes, means for feeding a succession of close-lying boxes between said brushes and along the guide structure, a travelling conveyer movable through a path above and parallel with the outer end of the guide structure, said conveyer comprising links having spring box holding clips, a plunger reciprocable across the rearward end of the guide structure and toward and from the horizontal path of the successive links of the conveyer, and means for reciprocating said plunger.

2. The combination of paint-applying devices comprising spaced-apart rotary brushes, an elongated guide structure ex tending longitudinally from the path between the brushes, means for feeding a succession of close-lying boxes between said brushes and along the guide structure, a travelling conveyer movable through a path above'and parallel with .the outer end of the guide structure, said conveyer comprising links having spring box holding clips, a plunger reciprocable across the rearward end of the guide structure and toward and from tliedi-orizontal path of the successive links of the conveyer, means for reciprocating said plunger, and a stop for determining the 7 position of each leading box between the plunger, and the conveyer.

The combination with paint-applying devices and means for feeding a succession of boxes in the path of said devices, of a traveling conveyer comprising links having spring box-holding clips, a plunger movable toward and from the path of the succeeding clips, means for reciprocating said plunger, means for feeding the painted boxes successively toward the path of the plunger, a stop for determining the position of each leading box between the plunger and the conveyer, and a yielding pressure device ar ranged to bear against the outer face of each thus positioned box during the stroke of the plunger toward the conveyer.

4. The combination with paint-applying devices and means for feeding a succession of boxes in the path of said devices, of a traveling conveyer comprising links having spring box-holding clips, a plunger movable toward and from the path of the succeeding clips, means for reciprocating said plunger, means for feeding the painted boxes successively toward the path of the plunger, a stop for determining the position of each leading box between the plunger and the conveyer, and a yielding pressure device arranged to bear against the outer face of each thus positioned box during the stroke of the plunger toward the conveyer, said device comprising a head having a beveled nose which normally overhangs the upper corner of the leading box, a swinging support for said head, and a retracting spring for said support.

5. The combination with paint-applying devices and means for feeding a succession of match boxes in the path of said devices, of a guide structure into which the painted boxes are successively delivered comprising a bottom member and spaced apart side members having inclined inner portions which contact with and support the upper outer edges of the boxes, a plunger, means for reciprocating said plunger adjacent and at right angles to the discharging end of said trough, and a traveling carrier having spaced apart box-holding means into engagement with which each succeeding leading box of the row is inserted by the plunger.

6. The combination with paint-applying devices and means for feeding a succession of match boxes in the path of said devices, of a guide structure into which the painted boxes are successively delivered comprising a bottom member and spaced apart side members having inclined inner portions which contact with and support the upper outer edges of the boxes.

tending therethrough neans for impelling said conveyer, means for moving the succes sion of painted boxes toward the conve er, and means for entering each succee ing 15 leading box in the adjacent link of the conveyei' and between the clips of said link.

Signed at Barberton, in the county of Summit and State of Ohio this 10 day of Sept. A. D. 1919.

JOSEPH C. DONNELLY. 

